No One Knows
by Dream Pyre
Summary: Sasuke, Itachi, their mother and Naruto reflect on what has happened and why. Not tied to any point in the timeline; it's introspective and may be philosophical. Genra because there isn't a more accurate one. Edited.
1. Chapter 1

Edited, for typos and a bit of style. I (still) don't have a clue how good this is; it doesn't have much of a typical plot and I haven't got a clue if it makes any sense to anyone but me. Hope you enjoy.

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_**Chapter 1**__**-****Sasuke**_

Itachi doesn't know. No one knows. And certainly not Itachi.

Definitely not Itachi.

It would just be wrong if Itachi knew what Sasuke did. It would be wrong if he knew that, in some secret, hidden part of his mind, Sasuke still loved and respected his older brother. Well, Itachi might know that, if he bothered to think about it. Sasuke could be stronger, if he really wanted to; he might have been able to kill Itachi if he had really tried.

But Itachi didn't know why. He couldn't know what Sasuke did. He didn't know that the father who'd loved Itachi so much hadn't loved Sasuke at all. He didn't know about the training that Sasuke had had, secretly, with his mother, when she taught him exactly how much chakra he had to use to pass out from chakra exhaustion but not die.

And there was no way that Itachi knew about the other training Sasuke had had, with their father, whenever Itachi wasn't home. And he definitely didn't know why their father was making Sasuke use chakra until he passed out. And he didn't know about the warning that their mother had given Sasuke. And Itachi didn't know that Sasuke had been planning to run away, because their father had told their mother that if Sasuke didn't manage to kill himself in his chakra lessons soon, he'd just drain Sasuke's chakra himself, because Sasuke wasn't talented like Itachi and a weakling wasn't allowed in the Uchiha clan. And Itachi didn't know that, no matter how much it hurt to lose his cousins and aunts and uncles and parents, and brother, Sasuke was grateful to him, because Sasuke really hadn't wanted to die, even if he was too weak.

And Itachi didn't know that that was why Sasuke had gone to Orochimaru, because he could get power there to kill Itachi, but also because he was meant to have run away long ago anyway. And because maybe, just maybe, Itachi did know and wasn't crazy. But Sasuke knew they both were. And that secret part of him, that still cared for his brother, hoped that maybe, if Itachi knew Sasuke was crazy too, when one of them killed the other, maybe it wouldn't hurt so much.

And that was the real reason Sasuke had gone to Orochimaru.

But there is no way that Itachi knows that.


	2. Chapter 2

Edited, for typos and style. Second chapter, some of the twists that popped into my head begin to appear more... and if you think I'm messing with stuff here, you should see the other stuff I come up with. This is tame and following canon for me. Enjoy.

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_**Chapter 2****-****Itachi**_

Sasuke doesn't know. No one knows. And certainly not Sasuke.

Definitely not Sasuke.

It would simply be wrong if Sasuke knew what Itachi did. It would be wrong if he knew that, in the most secret part of his heart, Itachi still loved and cared for his younger brother.

Sasuke would probably have a seizure if he ever heard that.

Itachi wonders sometimes, though. He knows Sasuke could be stronger, could have killed him if he really tried. So he encourages Sasuke, sometimes, when they meet, hurts and tortures and threatens, because even if there's no way Sasuke knows he's still held back by thinking of himself as always less than Itachi, he is, and Itachi wants to find something to make him break that barrier.

But there's no way that Sasuke knows that.

There's no way Sasuke knows why their mother was so careful to teach him just how much chakra to use to pass out from chakra exhaustion, but not die. And there's no way Sasuke knows why he had to keep using that knowledge, training with their father whenever Itachi wasn't home to occupy their father's time with his own training, or argue over Sasuke's. And he couldn't know what their mother had told Itachi, that their father was planning to just kill Sasuke himself if Sasuke didn't die of chakra exhaustion in one of his training sessions soon, because the father that was so proud of Itachi's accomplishments really hated Sasuke, because weaklings—even by comparison—weren't allowed in the Uchiha clan. And Sasuke didn't know that, however much it had hurt to kill everyone in the clan; aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, Itachi had anyway, because it hadn't hurt nearly as much as the thought of losing his brother. And Sasuke didn't know that Itachi would have left their mother alive, except that she'd known why he killed the clan, had known he was considering it, even if she hadn't really believed he would go through with it until she saw him, and Itachi knew that there was no way she would have been able to keep herself from telling Sasuke the truth, and that would have ruined everything.

And that was the real reason that Itachi killed his clan. If Sasuke knew….

But there is no way that Sasuke knows.


	3. Chapter 3

Edited, for typos and style. I'm calling Sasuke's and Itachi's mother Spirit because originally I didn't know her name and didn't want to just go with what I saw most often, and now because I'm too lazy to look it up and like the way this works without it anyway. Enjoy.  


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_**Chapter 3-Spirit**_

Her sons don't know. No one knows. And certainly not them.

Definitely not her sons.

It would simply be wrong if they knew what she did. She knows a lot that they shouldn't, being dead. She doesn't remember her name—quite—but she remembers what happened. She remembers teaching Sasuke to use his chakra, and how much he could possibly use without dieing. She remembers telling Itachi what she was doing, and why, and how her husband—her sons' father—wanted Sasuke to overuse his chakra and die, because he wasn't as skilled as Itachi, and even if he was strong, that comparison made him weak. She remembers asking Itachi to watch for anything her husband did, that might be a warning that he was planning something worse. And she remembers later, telling Itachi that her husband was planning to kill Sasuke, and warning Sasuke, too, of what her husband was planning and telling him that he had to leave, soon, and not come back until he could prove he was as strong as Itachi, and that that might mean never. She remembers Itachi talking to her about how killing the clan would solve all the problems of their not liking Sasuke, and she remembers wishing, almost, that he'd do that. She remembers the moment of realization when she understood that he did.

And they don't know. Itachi doesn't know that Sasuke knew he'd been in danger. Sasuke doesn't know that Itachi knew. Neither knows that the other suspects their brother might know. They were both certain that the other knew nothing, that everything had happened just the way and for the reasons that everyone else thought were true. Sasuke thought Itachi killed the clan because he was insane. Itachi thought Sasuke had gone to Orochimaru because of the curse seal. She knows better. Itachi had been protecting Sasuke, in the only way he knew to. Sasuke had been protecting Itachi, just on the chance that Itachi was sane. She knows. If they did, everything would be so much better. Itachi could return to Konoha; the Council was desperate enough to accept any excuse to have him back, probably, and Tsunade had never been very fond of the Uchiha clan, but she was understanding of protecting younger brothers. They would both have their brother back. But they were both so certain, so set in their belief that the other didn't know, too afraid of being disappointed to hope.

And, in the end, it would be wrong if they knew. Because there was something else she knew: knowledge like this, of the complex, twisted knots that people forced themselves into, wasn't knowledge for the living. And she guessed that that was why she'd had to die, because she'd understood much of this the moment she saw Itachi kill an Uchiha, and no living person was allowed to know anything like this.

So no one knows. There is no way that they could know.


	4. Chapter 4

Edited for typos and style. The final chapter, enjoy.  


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_**Chapter 4-Naruto**_

They don't know. No one knows.

He laughs sometimes, because they don't know.

Because Naruto does know. He knows that Itachi killed the Uchiha clan to protect Sasuke. He knows that Sasuke guesses, but refuses to acknowledge the guess because he's too scared to hope. Naruto knows that Sasuke went to Orochimaru because of that guess, and Naruto knows that Itachi guesses that Sasuke guesses. He knows that Itachi, also, refuses to acknowledge the guess because he's too scared to hope.

Naruto knows why, too. He knows how Sasuke's father hated him, and how Sasuke's mother warned them both. He heard the conversation when Itachi first talked about killing the clan, because Itachi and his mother didn't know that hidden in the bushes there had been a little boy whose chakra they'd mistaken for a fox's. He knows that Itachi thought he'd killed his mother because she would have told, and he knows that she had really died because she knew some of what he did, and no living person could have knowledge like that. He knows that Sasuke's determination to be strong really has very little to do with Itachi, and a lot to do with proving himself worthy of being alive.

He knows that Sasuke and Itachi each care for the other, and that each know that the other might suspect he does. He knows that they're both certain the other doesn't know why. He knows that each suspects why, but doesn't know that the other still cares for him. Ironic. He knows why Itachi lets Sasuke find him, and why Itachi threatens and hurts and tortures Sasuke, to force Sasuke to exceed the limits that are only there because Sasuke thinks they are.

He knows, too, that he probably shouldn't know. He knows that anyone who knew all that, would want to know why he didn't die for the knowledge. And he knows why he can know.

Because Uzumaki Naruto is dead, has been dead from the moment the Kyuubi was sealed. Kyuubi Naruto, Jinchurikki Naruto, he is alive. But Uzumaki Naruto is dead.

So as long as he laughs and grins and uses his own chakra, not the demon's, he is Uzumaki Naruto, and he is dead, and he can know.


End file.
